On August 13th, 1961 - the night that the Berlin Wall goes up - three people must make a decision that will change their lives forever.

The impoverished and homeless orphan girl Anna Barbara sets out in search of the mysterious golden thaler. The rag collector Hans Geiz offers her the promise of it if she toils in his underground kingdom for three years.

At the beginning of the 50s, two extremely disparate men meet in a private sanatorium for consumptives: an officer in the People’s Police, Josef Heiliger; and a young Protestant curate, Hubertus Koschenz. On account of their consumption, they have to share a room. Initially, this is the only thing they have in common.